Impact of Ingested Live Microbes on Health: An evidence Map
Human gut microbiome research has linked imbalances in the gut microbiota with several suboptimal health conditions. Consequently, the application of dietary interventions including foods (i.e., fermented foods [FFs]) and food supplements (i.e., probiotics) that contain live microorganisms to positively impact the gut microbiota and, in turn, health, has been the subject of much attention. Evidence indicates that consumption of FFs as well as probiotics can be protective against a wide range of ailments. However, despite the large body of evidence relating to the health benefits of specific probiotics and FFs, there is an absence of recommended dietary allowances (RDA) relating to the consumption of live microbes. This is partly due to an incomplete understanding of the more general health benefits imparted by ingesting live microbes. To address this, the research team will conduct an in-depth evidence mapping exercise to understand the breadth of evidence linking ingestion of live microbes with potential health benefits. This evidence mapping exercise will form a key step in a process towards determining the merits of recommending a level of live microbe intake that can be linked to positive health outcomes.
Institution: Agriculture and Food Development Authority, Republic of Ireland
Principal Investigator: Paul Cotter, PhD
Year Awarded: 2020
Learn more about our work on Live Dietary Microbes with this summary handout.
Read More: The Impact of Live Dietary Microbes on Health: A Scoping Review
View this project on the Center for Open Science's Open Science Framework.
This project was supported by the IAFNS Gut Microbiome Committee
The Identification of Microbially-Derived Metabolites as Biomarkers: What Changes of Which Metabolites Matter for Health?
Identifying microbially‐derived metabolites that may serve as biomarkers for health, or metabotyping, is a necessary step to understanding the role of the microbiome in human health. Ultimately, knowing what metabolites (including presence and quantity) matter for health can inform development of a nutritional strategy for health benefits and the prevention of adverse health outcomes such as metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The specific questions to be addressed in this project are: 1) What diet‐derived and gut‐derived metabolites and/or metabotypes have been linked to specific health outcomes or are markers of health outcomes?; and 2) What types of evidence are available on the relationship between those metabolites/metabotypes and specific health outcomes?
Institution: Johns Hopkins University
Principal Investigator: Karen Robinson, PhD
Year Awarded: 2020
Read More: Diet-Related And Gut-Derived Metabolites And Health Outcomes: A Scoping Review
This project was supported by the IAFNS Gut Microbiome Committee